Conveying system and apparatus for feeding soft cake products

ABSTRACT

A conveying system and apparatus is disclosed for feeding soft cake products into a packaging machine for wrapping the products individually or in a twin pack. The conveying system includes a pair of feed lines which are coupled to receive the soft cake products and convey them to a packaging machine. Each of the feed lines includes an accumulating means for accumulating the received products in a first direction, a turn-around conveyor for turning the product from the first direction to the second direction, a turn-over conveyor means for orienting said product in the second direction, and means is coupled for providing a predetermined spacing between the oriented products. A turn-in conveyor in each line then feeds the products into a central feed line of a wrapping machine, and a means is provided to position the product prior to wrapping.

United States Patent Tobey et a1 CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FORFEEDING SOFT 1 Oct. 3, 1972 Primary Examiner-Richard E. AegerterAssistant Examiner-Douglas D. Watts EPR DUCTS Attorney-C. CornellRemsen, .lr., Walter J. Baum, CAK 0 Paul W. Hemminger, Charles L.Johnson, Jr., Philip lnvemors= Hubert Tobey, Maywood; George M. Bolton,Edward Goldberg, Menotti J. Lombardi,

O. Moller, Dumont; Richard L. J and Isidore Togut Twiford, Teaneck, allof NJ. [73] Assignee: International Telephone and Tele- [57] ABSTRACTgraph Corp y, A conveying system and apparatus is disclosed for feedingsoft cake products into a packaging machine [22] Filed 1971 for wrappingthe products individually or in a twin [21] Appl. No.: 105,446 pack. Theconveying system includes a pair of feed lines which are coupled toreceive the soft cake products and convey them to a packaging machine.[52] U.S. Cl Each of the feed lines includes an accumulating means r. gfor accumulating the received products in a first [58]Fleldofsearchm'lgslzg31AA3233AB33 -direction, a tum-around conveyor forturning the 198,34 product from the first direction to the seconddirection, a tum-over conveyor means for orienting said product in thesecond direction, and means is Reference-S cued coupled for providing apredetermined spacing between the oriented products. A turn-in conveyorin UNITED STATES PATENTS each line then feeds the products into acentral feed 2,959,269 11/1960 Kammerer ..l98/32 X line of a wrappingmachine, and a means is provided 1,674,419 6/ 1928 Titus 198/33 AC toposition the product prior to wrapping. 3,485,339 12/1969 Miller et al...198/34 3,144,740 8/1964 Erickson et al....198/33 AC X FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 8 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures 747,317 4/1956 GreatBritain ..l98/76 Fl .6 GA Fee-a uueA 6 f )2 r/s-+ riifl i H A FEED LINE5 101 II I0 0 I no 17: I77 8 If' L (rm. 5 dan) (r12. (H63 5A) 4, 414034PATENTED UN 3 I972 SHEET 3 [IF 8 'INVENTORS HUBERT E. 7081: Y

BY GEORGE 0. MOLLER RICHARD L, TIM/FOR? M RNEY PATENTEnnc'ra m2 SHEET Q0F 8 INVENTORS roeev BY 0, MULLER RICHARD L. TW/FORD iiTORNEY IINVENTORS HUBERT E. 7085) BY GEORGE O. MOLLER RICHARD L, IA/[FORD AORNEY PATENIEUnma 1912 v 3.695.411

SHEET 7 [IF 8 FEED LINE 8 INQELNTORS HUBER r E. TOBEY BY csonq' 0.MOLLER RICHARD L. 7' mo; I

F550 LINE A ATTORNEY PATENTEDuma m2 3,695,411

sum 8 or 8 INVENTORS uuasm- 708E) BY GEORGA' anousa RICHARD L. TJZIFOLOMA 3r EY CONVEYING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SOFT CAKE PRODUCTSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, this invention relates toimproved means for handling soft cake products, and more particularly,to a conveying system and apparatus for automatically feeding elongatedsoft cake products in a manner suitable for wrapping and packaging by amachine.

In high speed production of baked goods such as soft cake products whichmay be cream filled and/or iced, careful machine handling is required sothat the items retain their characteristic shape and appearance whilebeing handled in an efficient continuous manner. The soft cake productsgenerally have a specific geometrical shape and must be moved from abaking location to a packaging location. The intermediate machinehandling requires changing the relative position of the products so thatthe geometrical shape is compatible with the machine requirements, andmoving the products at a uniform rate and speed required by the machine.The conveying system must not only be able to feed the product at thepredetermined rate of the machine, but it must feed with a desiredspacing between the items.

This is especially true with soft cake products having an elongatedshape requiring that they be correctly oriented in the conveying systemfor the wrapping machine. These problems are further enhanced when theelongated soft cake is to be wrapped in a twin pack with two items sideby side. Therefore, the conveying system must include arrangements forproperly orienting the position of the product so that it is properlyfed to a wrapping machine when wrapped as a single or a double unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved conveying system and apparatus forhandling soft cake products.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedconveying system and apparatus for continuously handling soft cakeproducts for feeding a wrapping machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conveying system andapparatus for feeding elongated soft cake products in a continuous andhigh speed manner suitable for subsequent wrapping and packaging.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide apparatusfor handling elongated soft baked goods in a conveyor system organizedfor high speed feeding of the goods into a packaging machine forwrapping individually or in a twin pack.

According to the broader aspects of the invention there is provided aconveying system and apparatus for feeding soft cake products into apackaging machine including a feeding line having means for accumulatingsaid product, means for turning-around said accumulated product from afirst direction to a second direction, means coupled for orienting saidproduct from a first position to a second position in said seconddirection, means for inserting a predetermined spacing betweenindividual ones of the oriented products, and means for smoothlytransferring and turning-in said product for wrapping in said packagingmachine.

According to a feature of the invention, apparatus is provided forconveying and feeding elongated soft cake products into a packagingposition including a plurality of feed lines for feeding said packagingposition, means for feeding each of said lines with products orientedwith their long axis perpendicular to said conveying direction, means ineach of said feed lines for turning said product so that their long axisis in line with said conveying direction, means in each of said feedlines for tuming-over said products from a first orientation to a secondorientation in the conveying direction, means in each of said feed linescoupled for providing a predetermined spacing between each of saidproducts, and means coupled for merging a first and second feed linewith a packaging machine feed line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will best be understoodif the specification is read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the general arrangement of the conveying system andapparatus for soft cakeproducts according to the invention;

FIGS. 1a and lb illustrate a typical soft cake and package arrangement;

FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of the accumulating means according tothe invention;

FIGS. 3 and 3a illustrate the turn-around conveyor according to theinvention;

FIGS. 4, 4a and 4b illustrate the turn-over conveyor according to theinvention;

FIGS. 5 and 5a show the indexing, smooth transfer, and a portion of theturn-in conveyor according to the invention; and

FIGS. 6 and 6a illustrate features of the turn-in conveyor for feeding astandard wrapping machine according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 illustrates the generalarrangement of a conveying system and apparatus for soft cake productsaccording to the invention. The soft cake product 101, as morespecifically shown in FIG. 1a may be a cream filled, iced or a plainsoft cake product having the illustrated elongated shape including along axis 101a, a flat like bottom 101b, and contour sidesand topportions 101a. According to the general arrangement, the soft cakeproduct is loaded from the ovens or cream filler machine onto an inputconveyor 102 moving at a fixed rate of speed. The overall arrangementwill accumulate the products, turn and feed them to a wrapping machineto be wrapped in a twin pack in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1b. Thesoft cake products 101 are positioned on their side on a cardboard base103 and sealed by a cellophane type wrapper 104. The arrangementillustratedpermits-speeds of 250 wrapping units per minute.

After the cake has been placed on the input conveyor 102, it is passedto an oscillating l to 2 switch conveyor 105 which couples andalternates the feed of the cake 101 between feed line A and feed line B.It should be understood that it is also possible to directly feed a feedline A and B, or to eliminate one feed line completely. According to thepreferred mode of operation, a standard type switching conveyor, such asproduced by Metramatic Corporation of Landing, New Jersey, identified asModel LDl2-2, couples the input conveyor 102 to the feed lines. Theaccumulator means 106 feeds a turn-around conveyor 107 in order to stackthe cakes prior to their being fed to the turn-around conveyor 107. Theturn-around conveyor 107 is coupled to a turn-over conveyor 108 whichfeeds an indexing conveyor 109 and smooth transfer conveyor 110. Theturn-in conveyor means 111 which is adjustable by means 117 on itstracks, couples the cakes to a standard wrapper and conveyingarrangement 112 such as marketed by Doughboy Manufacturing Company"including a cardboard feeder 113 portion (shown in dashed lines), aconveying portion 114 having a center conveying chain 115 and a productpositioner 118, and a wrapping portion 116.

It should be evident from the drawing that feed lines A and B areconstituted in the same manner and can be operated individually whenwrapping a single soft cake product 101 rather than the twin packillustrated in FIG. lb. A cardboard support 103 in a single pack isoptional. Further, when utilizing a single package rather than the twinpackage, the turn-over conveyor 108 is not required in the feed line andmay be replaced by a straight idler conveyor portion if desired.However, the arrangement as described may be utilized by leaving theturn-over conveyor in place and operating only one of the feed lines.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a plan view of the accumulating means accordingto the invention is illustrated. The cake products are accumulated inthe direction indicated by flow arrow 201. The accumulator comprises aplurality of groups of accumulating belts 202, 203, 204 and 205. Thebelts 202 through 205 are rotatably mounted on shafts 206, 207, 208, 209and 210. The shafts being rotatably mounted on frame members 21 l and212. The drive sprocket wheel 213 is driven by a drive motor (not shown)mounted to the support base 214. Sprocket wheels 213 and 215 are mountedon through shaft 216. Shaft 216, on its opposite end, supports sprocketwheels 217 and 218. Wheel 217 is coupled to wheel 218 via a chaincoupling 219. Sprocket wheels 218 and 221 are mounted on through shaft220, and sprocket wheel 221 is connected to sprocket wheel 222 viacoupling 223. Wheel 222 drives shaft 207 and via associated beltmounting pulleys 207a-e the speed of accumulator belts 202a through2022. Slotted wheel 224 is coupled to wheel 215 via coupling 225 todrive shaft 208 and the pulley mounted accumulator belts 2030 through203e. Sprocket wheel 218 via chain drive 226 is coupled to sprocketwheel 227 which is mounted to through shaft 228 on which is also mountedwheels 229, 230. Sprocket wheel 230 is coupled via coupling 231 tosprocket wheel 232 to drive shaft 209 and the pulley mounted accumulatorbelts 204a through 204e. Sprocket wheel 229 is coupled by coupling 233to wheel 234 which is mounted on through shaft 235. Shaft 235 alsomounts sprocket wheel 236 which is coupled by chain 237 to sprocketwheel 238. Wheel 238 is mounted to shaft 210 to drive the pulley mountedaccumulator belts 205a through 2052.

It should be well understood by those skilled in the art, that by aproper design ratio of sprocket wheels and couplings, the overall speedratio of the accumulator can be controlled. According to a preferredembodiment, the plurality of belts 202a through 202e are traveling at l10 linear feet per minute, the accumulator belts 203a through 203e aretraveling at linear feet per minute, the accumulator belts 2040 through2040 are traveling at 70 linear feet per minute, and the accumulatorbelts 205a through 205e are traveling at 45 linear feet per minute.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the switching convertor will couple the cakeproducts 101 to the group of belts 202a through 202e at approximately'70 linear feet per minute. These are then accelerated to linear feetper minute and slowed down so that they may be accumulated and stackedside by side with their overall length being perpendicular to thedirection of flow, and the product leaves the accumulator atapproximately 45 linear feet per minute.

The turn-around conveyor 107 is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 3a. FIG. 3 isa plan view of the turn-around conveyor in which the products moveperpendicular to the direction indicated by flow arrow 301. The productsare turned by two driven parallel belts 302 and 303 which have differentspeeds, a turn-around roller 304, and cooperating side belts 305 and306. The products are moved out of the apparatus in a single line bybelt 307 to the turnover conveyor. The following structural details areconnected to control and drive the belts and roller to accomplish theturning action.

In FIG. 3a, the frame 308 mounts a gear reduction 309 and motor means310 and 311. The side frame members 312 and 313 mount shaft members 314,315, 316, 317, 318 and 319 on axes indicated respectively as U3, V3, W3,X3, Y3 and Z3. Turn-around wheel 304 is mounted on axis D3 and the sidebelts 305 and 306 are respectively mounted about axes C3, B3, H3 and E3,G3. The drive for parallel belts 302 and 303 is by sprocket wheel 320which is coupled via link 321 to output pulley 322 of gear box 309. Thetwo speeds of parallel belts 302 and 303 are accomplished via differentdiameter gear pulley members 323 and 324, the inside surface of the beltbeing ribbed to mesh with the members 323, 324. The belt rotates aboutthe rotatable pulley mountings 314A, 316A and 317A which are fixed tothe respective shafts 314, 316 and 317. Shafts 314, 315, 317 arerotatably mounted and shafts 316, 318 are fixed to the side members 312and 313. Sprocket wheel 325a is coupled via chain link 326 to the outputpulley 327 of gear box 309. The sprocket 325 is coupled via chain link328 to a three coupling pulley 329. The three coupling pulley 329 iscoupled via link 330 to shaft 319 on axis Z3, and via link 331 to rightangle drive means 332. Right angle drive means 332 connects sprocketwheel 333 via link 334 to sprocket wheel 335 to provide rotation of belt306 about axes E3, G3. Sprocket wheel 335 is further connected via link336 to sprocket wheel 337 to provide rotation of roller 304 about axisD3. As illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 3, the chain link 338 ismounted about axial pulleys A3, F3, B3 and around D3 and E3 which supplythe rotating power to the belt 305.

In a preferred embodiment and referring additionally to FIG. 1, the cakeproducts move from the accumulator 106 at 45 linear feet per minute andperpendicular to the two parallel input belts 302, 303, the apparatusillustrated has the proper gear ratio so that belt 302 moves at 105linear feet per minute and belt 303 moves at 90 linear feet per minute.This speed together with the tacky texture of the fresh baked cakeproduct causes one end of its elongated shape to lead the other end andwith the aid of turning wheel 304 and slant portion of belt 305 bothcompletes the turning and individual lining of the parallel cakeproducts so that they move between parallel sides of belts 305 and 306and onto belt 307. Wheel 304 moves at 380 linear feet per minute andbelts 305, 306, 307 travel at the same speed of 220 linear feet perminute. Therefore, the two parallel unequal speed belts 302 and 303cooperate initially to cause the angular turning of the oblong cakeproduct and with the aid of the turning roller 304 and the angularsloped portion of belt 305 opposite roller 304 causes the completeturn-in of the product so that it moves on belt 307 past the axialsection line Y3. The products are in a single tile and conveyed toturn-over conveyor 108.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 4a and 4b, a turn-over conveyor according tothe invention is illustrated. FIG. 4 illustrates a pair of turn-overbelts 401 and 402 which are pulley mounted by means 403 and 404. Theturnover belts are mounted in side frame 405 which is supported bystructure means 406 and 407. A motor 408 is mounted by means 409 to thestructural members 406 and 407 and is coupled by drive belt 410 to gearreduction means 411. The gear reduction member 411 is coupled via linkmeans 412 to drive one of the belts,

. the other belt is driven by a similar link to 412 which is not shownfor simplicity. I

FIG. 4a illustrates a top plan view of the conveyor and FIG. 4billustrates a partial end view of the turnover conveyor according toFIG. 4. The products flow in direction of arrow 413 in single file onbelt 402 following dashed line 414 and are turned on the side by thecooperation of the half twist belts 402 and 401, the product thenexiting on belt 401 in the direction of flow arrow 415. Belts 401 and402 are half twisted about the pulley mounts 403, 420, 422, 423 whichare rotatably mounted on the side frame members 405 and 416. Pulleymount 403 is rotatably mounted on shaft 417 through bearing mounts 418and 419 to the frame side walls. The belt 412 imparts the motion of thegear reducer to the pulley belt arrangements 402, 403 and 420. Belt 421drives the belt 401 on pulley mountings 422 and 423. Pulley 423 of belt401 is mounted by shaft 424 to bearing mounts 425, 426 to side walls.

In summary and referring again to FIG. 1, the products are turned in aturn-around conveyor 107 and pass single file into turn-over conveyor108. The product moving in the direction of arrow 413 is turned incooperation with half twist turn-over belts 402 and 401 following thedotted line 414 and exist on their side so that they are in the positionillustrated in FIG. lb for wrapping.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 5a there is illustrated a side and planview of the indexing conveyor portion, the smooth transfer conveyorportion and beginning of the turn-in conveyor portion. The product istraveling in the direction of arrow 501 on the indexing conveyor 502.The indexing conveyor includes a belt 503 which is rotatably mounted onpulleys 504, 505 and through shafts 504a, 505a to side mounting panels506, 507. The conveyor also includes panel supports 508, 509, a

belt tension pulley 510, and frame means 511, 512, 513, 514. 515. Amotor-clutch arrangement 516 is mounted to frame support means 511 andprovides both a continuous and an intermediate motion for thisarrangement.

A standard photo-cell arrangement 517, 518 is positioned on the indexingconveyor and coupled by lines 519 to control means 520 which is coupledby line 521 to control the intermittent operation of clutch pulley 522.A cam operated micro switch 536 is included to override the photo-celloperation. Clutch pulley 522 is coupled by chain drive 523 to sprocketwheel 524 mounted on shaft 505a to control the intermittent motion ofbelt 503 according to the predetermined timing of photo-cell arrangement517, 518 and control box 520. This timing is well known, and providesthe indexing or spacing between individual products to be delivered tothe smooth transfer conveyor portion 525.

The smooth conveyor portion comprises a plurality of belts 526positioned about means 527, 528, 529, 530, 531. These means are mountedby side panels 532, 533 and are driven by sprocket wheel 534 ashereinafter described.

The motor-clutch arrangement 516 includes, at an input end opposite thepulley 522, a continuous motion input drive pulley 535 which is coupledto cam 537. The drive from sprocket wheel 535 is provided by chain link539 to sprocket wheel 540 which in turn is directly coupled to sprocketwheel drive 541 and via chain link 542 to drive sprocket wheel 534 toprovide the motion for the continuous smooth transfer of the productfrom the indexing to the turn-in conveyor.

The sprocket wheels 541 and 540 of the turn-in conveyor are traveling inthe direction of arrow 542 and mounted by shaft 544 in panels 545, 546.

According to the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 5a, the productsare intermittently fed from the indexing conveyor to the smooth transferconveyor and onto the turn-in conveyor portion which couples theproducts to wrapper and conveying arrangement 112 (FIG. 1). Furtherdetails of the conveyor arrangement according to the invention will nowbe described in connection with FIGS. 6 and 6a.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 6a, FIG. 6 illustrates feed lines A and Bcomprising a series of chain link belts 601. These belts are coupledfrom smooth transfer conveyor portion illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 5a andpositioned to angle in and run along side center conveying chain (ofFIG. 1). The movement is in direction of arrow 602. The center conveyingchain 115 comprises a plurality of chain links 603 and a plurality ofspaced lugs 604. The spaced lugs 604 are positioned to convey card 605in the conveying direction. The card is fed from a card feeder 113 (notshown) and between adjustable card guide 606, 607. The adjustment guides606, 607 is made by adjusting means 608 as shown in FIG. 1 by means 117,the turn-in conveyor has a pair of adjustable tracks, and chain links601 ride on top of chain links 603, this allows the product to move fromchain links 601 onto the cardboard being moved by lugs 604. The turn-inconveyor includes a pair of rotating turn-in guide belts 609, 610 whichare rotatably mounted, respectively, about pulley means 611, 612, 613and 614. The product moving on the guide belt chain line 601 is therebyinserted between the lugs 604 and onto the card 605.

FIG. 6a illustrates further features of the turn-in conveyor, whereinthe chain links 601 are carried on the chain link support frame 615. Theturn-in guide belt bracket 616 is mounted to a lower frame member 617.The bracket 616 supports a right angle gearing means 618 which iscoupled to input drive shaft 619 rotating in direction of arrow 620. Thedrive may be obtained directly from the wrapping machine or by anindividual drive motor. The gearing means 618 is coupled by shaft 621 topulley mount 612. The belt 609 is mounted about rotatable pulleys 622and by extension 623 and means 611 about pulley 624. The lugs 604 propelthe card 605 and the product turned-in by belts 609, 610 in thedirection of arrow 625.

Thus, the in-feed of the products to the wrapping machine isaccomplished by the conveyor system and apparatus according to thedescribed invention. Each of the feed lines A and B accumulates,turns-around, turns-over, indexes, and smoothly transfers the soft cakeproducts to a turn-in conveyor belt arrangement which cooperates with astandard wrapping machine which then wraps the product in the mannerillustrated in FIG. lb.

Although I have described my invention in connection with specificapparatus, it should be clearly understood that this description is madeonly by way of example and is not to be considered a limitation on thescope of the invention as set forth in the objects and features thereofand in the accompanying claims.

We claim:

1. In a conveying system, apparatus for feeding elongated soft cakeproducts into a packaging machine, a feed line comprising:

means for accumulating said products in a first direction with the longaxis of the products perpendicular to the conveying direction;

means coupled to said accumulating means for turning-around saidaccumulated products from said first direction to a second direction inwhich the long axis of the products is in line with the conveyingdirection;

means coupled to said turn-around means for orienting said products asreceived in a first position to a second position with the long axisstill in said second direction;

indexing means coupled to receive said oriented products for providingpredetermined spacing between individual ones of said oriented products;and

means coupled to said indexing means for smoothly transferring andturning-in said product for wrapping.

2. In a conveying system, apparatus for feeding elongated soft cakeproducts into a wrapping machine to provide a twin package, theapparatus including:

means for feeding said products to a first feed line and a second feedline with said products positioned with their long axis perpendicular tothe conveying direction;

said first and second feed lines each comprising accumulator meansincluding a plurality of groups of accumulator belts for accumulatingand stacking said fed products side by side;

turn-around conveyor means coupled to receive said accumulated andstacked products for turning said products from a first direction to asecond direction in which the long axis of the products is in line withthe conveying direction;

turn-over conveyor means coupled to receive said turned products fororienting said products in another posi-tion in said second direction;

indexing means coupled to said turn-over means for pro-viding apredetermined spacing between individual ones of said oriented products;and

a smooth transfer conveyor and turn-in conveyor coupled to said indexingmeans for feeding said products into a feed line of the wrappingmachine; and

turn-in belt means mounted to and cooperating with said turn-in conveyorof said first and second feed lines to cause a pair of said products tobe positioned so that they may be packaged as a unit.

3. A conveying system and apparatus for feeding elongated soft cakeproducts into a wrapping machine comprising:

an input conveyor carrying a multiplicity of said products in a firstdirection with the long axis of said products transverse to saidconveying direction;

accumulator means coupled to said input conveyor for accumulating saidproducts in said first direction;

a turn-around conveyor coupled to receive said accumulated products,including a turn-around wheel positioned to change the direction of saidproduct from said first direction to a direction in which the long axisof said products is in line with said conveying direction;

an indexing arrangement coupled to receive said turned-around productsand to provide a predetermined spacing between each of the products; and

transfer and turn-in means coupled to said indexing means for feedingsaid products into said wrapping machine.

4. Apparatus for conveying and feeding of elongated soft cake productsinto a packaging position including:

a plurality of feed lines;

means for feeding each of said lines with products in a firstorientation and positioned so that the elongated axis is in a firstdirection relative to said conveying direction;

means in each of said feed lines coupled to said feeding means forturning said products from said first direction to a second direction sothat the elongated axis is in line with said conveying direction;

means in each of said feed lines coupled to said turning means forturning-over said products from said first orientation to a secondorientation and with the elongated axis in said conveying direction;

means in each of said feed lines coupled to said turnover means forproviding a predetermined spacing between each of said' products; and

means coupled to said spacing means for merging first and sec-0nd feedlines with a packaging feed line to convey said products into thepackaging position.

5. A conveying system and apparatus for feeding soft cake productshaving an elongated shape into a packaging machine, a feed linecomprising:

means for accumulating said products with their long axis perpendicularto the conveying direction;

means coupled to receive said accumulated products and to turn them sothat their long axis is in the conveying direction; means coupled tosaid turning means for orient-ing said product from a first position toa second position in said long axis direction;

indexing means coupled to said orienting means for cake products into awrapping machine to provide a twin package, said products having agenerally elongated shape and contour sides and top and the apparatusincluding:

a first and second feed line for feeding the prod-ucts into theconveying system, said first and second feed lines carry a multiplicityof said products in a first direction with the long axis of the productsperpendicular to the conveying direction; said first and second feedlines each comprising accumulator means coupled to receive said productsfor accumulating and stacking said products side by side in said firstdirection per pendicular to its long axis;

turn-around conveyor means coupled to said accumulator means for turningsaid products from said first direction to a second direction with theirlong axis in line with the conveying direction;

turn-over conveyor means coupled to receive said turned-around productsand to orient said products in another position so that they areconveyed on their contour side and with their long axis in the conveyingdirection;

means coupled to said turn-over means for providing a predeterminedspacing between individual ones of said products; and

a smooth transfer conveyor and turn-in conveyor coupled to said spacingmeans for feeding said products into a feed line of the wrappingmachine; and

turn-in belt means cooperating with said turn-in conveyor of said firstand second feed lines to cause a pair of said products to be packaged asa unit.

5 products in a first direction with the long axis of the productsperpendicular to said conveying direction;

accumulator means comprising a plurality of groups of accumulating beltscoupled to said input conveyor for accumulating and stacking saidproducts side by side with the long axis perpendicular to the conveyingdirection; turn-around conveyor fed by said accumulator means includinga turn-around wheel cooperating 5 to change the direction of saidproducts from said first direction to a second direction in which thelong axis of the products is in line with said conveying dire tion;means coup ed to receive said turned-around products and to provide apredetermined spacing between individual ones of said products; and

transfer and turn-in means coupled to receive said spaced products andto feed said products into said wrapping machine.

8. Apparatus for conveying and feeding of elongated soft cake productshaving contour sides and top portions and a relatively flat bottom, theapparatus comprising:

a plurality of feed lines;

means for feeding each of said lines with products oriented with theirlong axis perpendicular to said conveying direction;

means in each of said feed lines coupled to said feeding means forturning said products so that their long axis is in line with saidconveying direction; means in each of said feed lines coupled to saidturning means for turning-over said products so that they are conveyedon their contour sides and with their long axis in line with theconveying direction; means in each of said feed lines coupled to saidturnover means for providing predetermined spacing between each of saidturned-over products; and means coupled to said spacing means formerging first and second feed lines and to convey said products into apackaging position.

1. In a conveying system, apparatus for feeding elongated soft cakeproducts into a packaging machine, a feed line comprising: means foraccumulating said products in a first direction with the long axis ofthe products perpendicular to the conveying direction; means coupled tosaid accumulating means for turning-around said accumulated productsfrom said first direction to a second direction in which the long axisof the products is in line with the conveying direction; means coupledto said turn-around means for orienting said products as received in afirst position to a second position with the long axis still in saidsecond direction; indexing means coupled to receive said orientedproducts for providIng predetermined spacing between individual ones ofsaid oriented products; and means coupled to said indexing means forsmoothly transferring and turning-in said product for wrapping.
 2. In aconveying system, apparatus for feeding elongated soft cake productsinto a wrapping machine to provide a twin package, the apparatusincluding: means for feeding said products to a first feed line and asecond feed line with said products positioned with their long axisperpendicular to the conveying direction; said first and second feedlines each comprising accumulator means including a plurality of groupsof accumulator belts for accumulating and stacking said fed productsside by side; turn-around conveyor means coupled to receive saidaccumulated and stacked products for turning said products from a firstdirection to a second direction in which the long axis of the productsis in line with the conveying direction; turn-over conveyor meanscoupled to receive said turned products for orienting said products inanother posi-tion in said second direction; indexing means coupled tosaid turn-over means for pro-viding a predetermined spacing betweenindividual ones of said oriented products; and a smooth transferconveyor and turn-in conveyor coupled to said indexing means for feedingsaid products into a feed line of the wrapping machine; and turn-in beltmeans mounted to and cooperating with said turn-in conveyor of saidfirst and second feed lines to cause a pair of said products to bepositioned so that they may be packaged as a unit.
 3. A conveying systemand apparatus for feeding elongated soft cake products into a wrappingmachine comprising: an input conveyor carrying a multiplicity of saidproducts in a first direction with the long axis of said productstransverse to said conveying direction; accumulator means coupled tosaid input conveyor for accumulating said products in said firstdirection; a turn-around conveyor coupled to receive said accumulatedproducts, including a turn-around wheel positioned to change thedirection of said product from said first direction to a direction inwhich the long axis of said products is in line with said conveyingdirection; an indexing arrangement coupled to receive said turned-aroundproducts and to provide a predetermined spacing between each of theproducts; and transfer and turn-in means coupled to said indexing meansfor feeding said products into said wrapping machine.
 4. Apparatus forconveying and feeding of elongated soft cake products into a packagingposition including: a plurality of feed lines; means for feeding each ofsaid lines with products in a first orientation and positioned so thatthe elongated axis is in a first direction relative to said conveyingdirection; means in each of said feed lines coupled to said feedingmeans for turning said products from said first direction to a seconddirection so that the elongated axis is in line with said conveyingdirection; means in each of said feed lines coupled to said turningmeans for turning-over said products from said first orientation to asecond orientation and with the elongated axis in said conveyingdirection; means in each of said feed lines coupled to said turn-overmeans for providing a predetermined spacing between each of saidproducts; and means coupled to said spacing means for merging first andsec-ond feed lines with a packaging feed line to convey said productsinto the packaging position.
 5. A conveying system and apparatus forfeeding soft cake products having an elongated shape into a packagingmachine, a feed line comprising: means for accumulating said productswith their long axis perpendicular to the conveying direction; meanscoupled to receive said accumulated products and to turn them so thattheir long axis is in the conveying direction; means coupled to saidturning means for orient-ing said product from a first poSition to asecond position in said long axis direction; indexing means coupled tosaid orienting means for providing predetermined spacing betweenindividual ones of said products; and means coupled to said indexingmeans for coupling said product to said packaging machine.
 6. In aconveying system, apparatus for feeding soft cake products into awrapping machine to provide a twin package, said products having agenerally elongated shape and contour sides and top and the appara-tusincluding: a first and second feed line for feeding the prod-ucts intothe conveying system, said first and second feed lines carry amultiplicity of said products in a first direction with the long axis ofthe products perpendicular to the conveying direction; said first andsecond feed lines each comprising accumulator means coupled to receivesaid products for accumulating and stacking said products side by sidein said first direction perpendicular to its long axis; turn-aroundconveyor means coupled to said accumulator means for turning saidproducts from said first direction to a second direction with their longaxis in line with the conveying direction; turn-over conveyor meanscoupled to receive said turned-around products and to orient saidproducts in another position so that they are conveyed on their contourside and with their long axis in the conveying direction; means coupledto said turn-over means for providing a predetermined spacing betweenindividual ones of said products; and a smooth transfer conveyor andturn-in conveyor coupled to said spacing means for feeding said productsinto a feed line of the wrapping machine; and turn-in belt meanscooperating with said turn-in conveyor of said first and second feedlines to cause a pair of said products to be packaged as a unit.
 7. Aconveying system and apparatus for feeding elongated soft cake productsinto a wrapping machine comprising: an input conveyor carrying amultiplicity of said products in a first direction with the long axis ofthe products perpendicular to said conveying direction; accumulatormeans comprising a plurality of groups of accumulating belts coupled tosaid input conveyor for accumulating and stacking said products side byside with the long axis perpendicular to the conveying direction; aturn-around conveyor fed by said accumulator means including aturn-around wheel cooperating to change the direction of said productsfrom said first direction to a second direction in which the long axisof the products is in line with said conveying direction; means coupledto receive said turned-around products and to provide a predeterminedspacing between individual ones of said products; and transfer andturn-in means coupled to receive said spaced products and to feed saidproducts into said wrapping machine.
 8. Apparatus for conveying andfeeding of elongated soft cake products having contour sides and topportions and a relatively flat bottom, the apparatus comprising: aplurality of feed lines; means for feeding each of said lines withproducts oriented with their long axis perpendicular to said conveyingdirection; means in each of said feed lines coupled to said feedingmeans for turning said products so that their long axis is in line withsaid conveying direction; means in each of said feed lines coupled tosaid turning means for turning-over said products so that they areconveyed on their contour sides and with their long axis in line withthe conveying direction; means in each of said feed lines coupled tosaid turn-over means for providing predetermined spacing between each ofsaid turned-over products; and means coupled to said spacing means formerging first and second feed lines and to convey said products into apackaging position.